Onus on owners to prove short-term lets are not for tourists

If there is not a licence, the government considers any let of less than a month to be for tourism purposes.

Owners of properties who rent out for a few days or a couple of weeks without having a holiday rental licence will be obliged to demonstrate that the letting is not for tourism purposes.

The tourism director-general, Antoni Sansó, explains that although the ley de arrendamientos urbanos (tenancy act) does indeed allow for letting contracts to be for as short as a day, if the letting implies tourism marketing, the government will act as it has powers to do so under tourism legislation.

Last summer, reform of the tourism law as it applies to rental accommodation established that lets of under a month would be treated by the government as being tourist. Owners would need to prove otherwise and that they are not involved in tourism marketing.

As an example, says Sansó, if ministry inspectors receive a complaint from a neighbour regarding a regular change of tenants in a property without a holiday rental licence, the inspectors will act. "It is very difficult for there to be a frequent change of tenants without there being some form of tourism commercialisation."

If the property is let without a licence for a month or more, so long as there has been no publicity suggesting a tourist/holiday let, then there is no infringement of the tenancy act. There would still, nevertheless, need to be a contract for the tenant. "What we are pursuing is the commercialisation as indicated by the legislation," adds Sansó.

Owners who are unable to justify short-term lets of less than a month without a licence can potentially face fines of between 20,000 and 40,000 euros. But as with the much bigger fines for websites which carry adverts for "illegal" rentals, the government could face challenges. At a meeting in Muro more than a month ago which generated a good deal of confusion, Sansó appeared to imply that a Balearic interpretation of the tenancy act, a national law, could constitute a violation of that law. The interpretation, or rather the stated case in the Balearic legislation of less than a month, does not exist in the national law.

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h lusher / Hace about 1 year

zaax / Hace about 1 year

Richard / Hace about 1 year

Sorry, on a roll here, last comment I promise. Mallorca is about an ecosystem of politicians, old families, hoteliers, lawyers and the media. With revolving doors between all these stakeholders. Unless you are part of this mafia circle you don’t count. Now I will have to keep my doors locked tight!

Richard / Hace about 1 year

Oh, also: we all know that polling is popular with politicians in the U.K. Does anyone (including our esteemed editor) know how the government here formally keeps tabs on local public opinion on charged topics like this? No, I thought not. Because they don’t give a damn. They just do what they want, and to hell with the non- pocket-lined.

Richard / Hace about 1 year

Perfect summary Frank. And I have yet to read anything in the local media to demonstrate that the government can rebut your comments (and the views of the majority of both foreigners and locals) effectively. I look forward to the fines being battled out in court, to the inevitable conclusion. Unless Spain decides to leave the EU, that is. There are many lesser known examples of how Mallorca, and indeed the Spanish state, chooses to ignore EU regulations, but this time they have bitten off more than they can chew.

Frank / Hace about 1 year

(Corrected)
This article confirms the total confusion of the idiotic Balearic Tourist Council. It was only ever a plan by the Hoteliers Federation attempting to eliminate what they mistakenly considered "competition", by offering free holidays to the council members in return for them to try to ban it. It's fundamentally flawed and conflicts with the established National Tenancy Act, it attempts to discriminate, and has only succeeded in alienating potentional quality private and bigger-spending holidaymakers, and castigates the small to medium businesses while contributing to a potential increased unemployment situation. It will never create any increased availability of residential accommodation, or reduce rental prices, as they foolishly imagined. That was all just a fantasy to attempt to justify their stupid action. None of the fines handed out to the Web portals will ever be paid, and any sanctions (mere warnings) will successfully be quashed by the courts when contested. Altogether tired of reading these repeated ramblings from a greedy, corrupt and entirely inept "tourism council".

Frank / Hace about 1 year

This article confirms the total confusion of the Balearic Tourist Council. It was only ever an idea by the Hoteliers Federation attempting to reduce what they mistakenly considered "competition", by offering free holidays to the council members in return for them to try to ban it. It's fundamentally flawed and conflicts with the established National Tenency Act, it attempts to discriminate, and has only succeeded in alienating potentional quality private and bigger-spending holidaymakers, and castigates the small to medium businesses and contributes to potential increased unemployment. It will never affect increased availability of resident accommodation or reduce rental prices, as they foolishly imagined. That was all just an excuse to attempt to justify their action. None of the fines to the Web portals will ever be paid, and any sanctions (mere warnings) will be successful either. Altogether tired of reading these repeated ramblings from a greedy, corrupt and entirely inept tourism council.

Simon / Hace about 1 year

My wife and I use our friends apartment 2 or 3 times a year. We do not pay rent and only make a contribution to the bills. The apartment is not advertised and they do not take tourists. Where do we stand on this new law? How do we prove our arrangement? We’ve been using it for over 10 years and we would be very disappointed if we had to give up now!

Tony / Hace about 1 year

Black and white legislation is what is needed, less of this wishy washy grey rubbish. Did it not cross anyone's mind that even owners of properties wanting to market for 30+ nights need to market their property to find tenants... they very rarely just magically appear. Most people want to be law abiding but they make it so difficult over here. So other than a tenancy contract how do you prove this is not for 'touristic purposes'? This is guilty until proven innocent but without actually giving people the tools and black and white information to stay law abiding. Make it easy, simple and straightforward as to what people need to provide.